Jim Lobe

A series of unexpectedly swift moves to begin addressing the Arab-Israeli conflict taken by Barack Obama in the week since he was sworn in as the U.S. president is being hailed by many regional specialists who were deeply frustrated by George W. Bush’s relative indifference and virtually unconditional support for Israel. “The speed with which … Continue reading “Obama Raises Hopes of
Mideast Experts”

In his first major diplomatic moves since his inauguration, U.S. President Barack Obama Thursday named two accomplished negotiators, former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell and Amb. Richard Holbrooke, as special envoys to deal with the Israel-Arab conflict and "the deteriorating situation" in Afghanistan and Pakistan, respectively. At a mid-afternoon briefing hosted by his just-confirmed Secretary … Continue reading “Obama Picks Israel-Arab, Afghanistan-Pakistan Negotiators”

U.S. and international human rights groups Wednesday praised President Barack Obama’s directive to immediately suspend the work of military commissions established by his predecessor, George W. Bush, to prosecute suspected terrorists at the U.S. detention facility at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and pressed for its earliest possible closure. Obama’s order, issued quietly several hours after he … Continue reading “Rights Groups Applaud Move to Halt Gitmo Trials”

Speaking before a record crowd estimated at between two and three million people at his inauguration Tuesday, U.S. President Barack Obama promised a foreign policy of "humility and restraint" and "greater cooperation and understanding between nations." In his first address as president, Obama also said he will take "bold and swift" action to address the … Continue reading “Obama Offers Internationalist Vision”

Perhaps never in human history have the hopes of so many people for positive change in international relations rested on one person as they do on Barack Obama, who is to be inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States at noon Washington time. That is one way of reading a new 17-nation poll … Continue reading “Around the World, High Hopes for Obama”

Just as the foreign policy of President George W. Bush was characterized by a continuous battle for control between hawks led by Vice President Dick Cheney and realists based primarily in the State Department and intelligence community – and, in its last two years, the Pentagon – so the incoming administration may find itself split … Continue reading “Liberals, Realists Set to Clash in Obama Administration”

A broad spectrum of groups and individuals is urging President-elect Barack Obama to go beyond his campaign pledge to lift curbs on travel and remittances to their homeland by Cuban Americans and launch a much broader process of normalization with Havana. Several analysts contacted by IPS said they were encouraged by Tuesday’s testimony by Secretary … Continue reading “Obama Urged to Take Bold Steps Toward Cuba Normalization”

While in a farewell press conference Monday George W. Bush once again expressed the belief that his eight-year presidency, particularly his foreign-policy record, will be vindicated by history, the portents are not particularly good. Already last spring, nearly two thirds of 109 professional historians polled by the History News Network rated Bush the worst president … Continue reading “Bush Foreign Policy Legacy Widely Seen as Disastrous”

In the first comprehensive statement of President-elect Barack Obama’s foreign policy priorities, his nominee for secretary of state, Sen. Hillary Clinton, said “cooperative engagement” backed up by what she called “smart power” will define Washington’s approach to the rest of the world. Testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which is likely to recommend her … Continue reading “Clinton Stresses ‘Cooperative Engagement,’ ‘Smart Power’”

Despite two wars involving more than 200,000 U.S. troops and a global economic crisis, foreign-related news coverage by the three major U.S. television networks fell to a record low during 2008, according to the latest annual review of network news coverage by the authoritative Tyndall Report. Squeezed out by intense coverage of the presidential election … Continue reading “Networks’ Int’l News Coverage at Record Low in 2008”